Ill
ISSUES OF DESIGN
Decision Support Systems for Business Intelligence
by Vicki L. Sauter
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
6
INTERNATIONAL DECISION
SUPPORT SYSTEMS
Many executives are choosing
to
internationalize operations to avail the corporation of larger
and more fruitful markets, competition among labor forces, and economical location and
distribution incentives. With internationalization comes geographical dispersion, increased
industrial and market competition, and increased access to labor pools and natural resources.
However, it also brings variations in the technical, legal, economic, and cultural forces
affecting the operations and decision making of the enterprise, the impact of which is
affected by the form of internationalization.
Transnational corporations can take on a variety of forms. For example, it is possible
that offices in the various countries produce different products and are essentially separate.
On the other hand, it is possible that the products are manufactured or created in one
country and marketed in another. Or there can be some combination of the two, such as
what Dyment (1987, p. 22) described:
The global corporation may have
a
product that was designed in
a
European country, with
components manufactured
in
Taiwan and
Korea.
It
may be
assembled
in
Canada
and
sold
as
a standard model in Brazil, and as a model fully loaded with options, in the United States.
Transfer pricing of the components and assembled product may be determined with an
eye to minimizing tax legality. Freight and insurance may be contracted for relet through a
Swiss
subsidiary,
which earns a
profit subject
only to
cantonal
taxes.
The principal
financing
may be provided from the Eurodollar market based in London. Add the complexities of
having the transactions in different countries, with foreign exchange hedges contract gains
and losses
that sometimes offset
trading
losses
or
gains,
and one has a
marvelously complex
management control problem.
Decision Support Systems for Business Intelligence
by Vicki L. Sauter
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
279
280
INTERNATIONAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS
Another form of internationalization is described by Sankar and Prabhakar (1992, p. 251).
This example involves not the production process but rather the sharing of data.
Consider the development of a Decision Support System that could support stock trans-
actions for transnational brokerages with offices in New York, Rome and Frankfurt. Such
a DSS must monitor the activity on multiple exchanges and in multiple markets to help
the analyst determine what stocks to trade, when to trade them, and how to trade them. If
the stock broker in New York wants to initiate a particular stock transaction, and if that
company is listed on multiple exchanges, he or she needs to decide trading on which ex-
change is most profitable. If for
example,
the decision is made to trade on the Rome Stock
Exchange, the transaction is sent to a front end processor (FEP) in New York, which then
transmits it to Rome using a private line. The Rome office sends a confirmation message
to New York and sends a duplicate copy of
the
transaction to the head office. Further, the
database used by brokers at all offices needs to be updated immediately so that models
tracking trades and prices will be accurate. Clearly the coordination among these systems,
while still providing decision support, is challenging.
Decision support systems have the potential for great assistance for multinational de-
cision making because technical variability, legal innuendos, cultural differences, and eco-
nomic pressures and their coordination exacerbate the turmoil associated with the poorly
defined choice processes generally supported by
DSS.
1
However, if not implemented prop-
erly, DSS can add to the problems of transnational decision making. In order to exploit the
benefits, designers need to be sensitive to a wider variety of issues and problems than those
considered in the design of domestic systems.
For example, there is reason to believe that there would be differences in preferences
for user interface options for transnational systems. Understanding the preferences and
their implications is crucial. Since the user interface is the only way one can interact with
the computer, its acceptance by users limits the usefulness of the system as a whole.
The user interface can communicate the importance of information and modeling
within a system. Different
colors,
size of representation (and relative size of representation),
spatiality, and contrast provide the "nonverbal cues" for the user interface. Even the way in
which one moves from screen to screen or accesses information carries some significance.
That
is,
the user interface can convey what is important
to
the organization, how the "power"
in the organization is controlled, or the corporate norms and expectations.
Consider the screen shown in Figure
6.1.
In this screen, the financial implication of a
proposed transnational corporate change
to the United States
is emphasized. The message
is carried in two ways. First, the implications for the United States are the only ones that
default as open to the screen. Users of the system are, in a sense, forced to at least see
them (if not use them). However, the implication is that information regarding all other
countries is "optional" to the decision because the user needs to take explicit action to
cause those results to appear on the screen. The second way in which the United States is
emphasized is through the size of the windows. Even after one has opened the windows
for other countries, they are considerably smaller than the window containing the U.S.
1
A team at the
University of California
at Irvine's Center
for
Research on
Information Technology and
Organizations studied
the role
of information technology
in the
economies of
11
Asia-Pacific nations.
In countries where the investment in information technology exceeded other investments, such as
plants and equipment, productivity was the highest. "This means IT investment is more productive
than other
investments,"
says one researcher.
INTERNATIONAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS
281
Figure 6.1. User interface implications.
financial data, hence conveying that the non-U.S. data are less important. A similar effect
could have been obtained by displaying financial data
only
in U.S. dollars and not in local
currencies. The implication of
these
differences is, of
course,
only a problem if the message
they convey is
unintended.
A second problem also is illustrated in Figure
6.1.
In this case, instead of emphasizing
a specific country, the size and default open options suggest the relative importance of
particular analyses. As in the previous example, this screen design suggests that financial
implications are the most crucial, whereas all other analyses are clearly secondary. This
suggestion of the importance of particular steps in a typical analysis is also conveyed
in Figure 5.31. In that screen, the system provides explicit encouragement for the user
to attempt to change values and rerun the simulation. The availability of the option is
making a statement about
the
importance of sensitivity analyses; the subtle recommendation
would not be apparent without those automatic rerun buttons. This apparent support for
particular options can present a problem for a transnational DSS when there are clear
cultural differences in the modeling preferences across the cultures. Such differences will
be discussed in later sections of this chapter.
Better user interfaces would have given non-U.S. countries greater representation on
the screen. Perhaps no analyses would be open as a default, but rather the world as a whole
is shown, and users can click on the country—or countries—of interest. Similarly, it would
send less of a message if users needed to actually request all options.
The relative sizing and location of objects on the screen are not the only aspects needing
attention in a transnational DSS. Since the user interface may be the basis for interaction
with other managers using the system, users become totally dependent on this interface for
prompts that would otherwise come from "nonverbal cues" and other tempering cues in
communication. Hence, words lose their intonation and the user becomes totally dependent
upon symbols and icons to convey more information. These new ways of affecting patterns
282
INTERNATIONAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS
of communication are fine as long as everyone agrees to the meaning of the various cues.
Problems occur, however, if there is a difference between the "codes" meant by the creators
of the cues and the codes used by the consumers of the cues.
In addition, the user interface may have a variety of problems associated with the use
of multiple languages. Many cultures, such as the French, are adamant about maintain-
ing their language as an active part of their culture, not just some quaint aspect of the
small towns in the country. Hence, if one of the nations involved with the system is a
country such as France,
2
providing a single-language transnational DSS may be impossi-
ble;
translation of files, commands, databases, and so on, may be necessary. Translations
can be tricky. Not only do the words need to be translated, but also the
meaning
of the
words
as a whole.
For example, the Japanese interpret the word "pragmatic" to mean
"tool user." Clearly, the meaning conveyed by referring to someone as "pragmatic" and
that associated with "tool user" are quite different. Without an understanding of the lan-
guage
and
the culture, the meaning of information used for decision making might be
lost. As a result, translations can be time consuming and people consuming. While there
are automated translators, they cannot be relied upon in such an unstructured setting;
they rarely reflect the nuances associated with data. For example, consider the computer-
generated translation shown in the box. Even without having the original Italian version, it
is clear that the
meaning
of the communication has been lost through the translation of the
words.
3
2
Even
a
system shared with Canada,
a
country quite similar
to the
United
States,
might require
a DSS
to
employ multiple languages, depending upon its application. Since the French-speaking population
in Canada is so numerous (especially in the Quebec province), Canadian law requires the use of
both English and French in many circumstances. For
example,
even candy wrappers in Canada must
provide all information, including the ingredients and nutritional information, in both English and
French.
3
Much work on language translation is in progress and some is much better than others. Even with
the best of
the
software, though, one
risks
losing nuances in the meaning of
words.
Design Insights
The Toubon Law
In France the use of French is required by law in commercial and workplace communications.
In 2006, GE Healthcare
, a French subsidiar
y of a U.S. company, was fined €500,000 plus an
ongoing fine of €20,000 per day for providing software and related technical documentation lo its
employees in the English language only. The Toubon Law (the full name of which is Law 94-665
of August 4, 1994, relating to usage of the French language) requires French to be used in official
government publications, in all advertisements, in all workplaces, in commercial contracts, in
some other commercial communication contexts, in all government-financed schools, and some
other contexts, including broadcasted programs. The Civil Court of Versailles followed a strict
interpretation of the Labor Code and on January
11,
2005, ordered GE Healthcare to immediately
provide its employees with (i) a French translation of its software and (ii) a French translation of
documents relating to employee training, safety, and health instructions and training manuals. In
addition, the court ordered the company to have documents relating to products already on the
market translated into French by June
1,
2005, with a daily penalty for noncompliance of €20,000
per document.
The Toubon Law also allows for the fine of individuals caught adulteratin
g the French
language with commercial or official English,
including computer terms.
INTERNATIONAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS
283
Even when the text is translated properly, its meaningfulness can be affected by the
technology associated with data transmission if the language requires special characters.
Often, if messages are not sent using an appropriate gateway, encodings become damaged
or changed, and hence the message becomes garbled. Some transnetwork software strips
off control characters, making the reading of text impossible. So, for example, rather than
receiving Japanese characters, one might simply receive the following on the screen:
$NJ8>0$NNC$G!"$=$l$OEnglish$B$NJ8>0$91#J
The following was posted on an electronic discussion group dedicated to communicatio
n regarding
historical issues, H-NET.
It
is
included
here
to help the reader understand the problems associated
with translation for transnational DSS.
Note from H-NET: Professor Andreucci, the moderator of H-ITALY, is fluent in Italian and
English. H-NET asked him to review one of the new automatic language translation programs.
His review appeared in Italian on H-ITALY. What follows is the automatic machine translation
into English of his review. It gives a strikingly clear picture of the strengths and weaknesses of
the program.
From: Franco Andreucci <fran&commat;vmxnucc.cnr,it
>
Subject: Italian Assistant Software—Automatic translation of my review
This is the automatic translation—don
e by the Italian Assistant (MicroTac Software)—of the
text I posted last week, I didn't intervenc in any word or phrase. Unfortunately, also the texts
intentionally written in italian in order to be automatically translated as examples in my review
are translated. For instance, if you don't control the original Italian text, you'll miss the meaning
of the sentence where
L<
leader
1
' is translated with "leader". My criticism was that 'leader' is
translated with "duce," Some words arc not translated because the accents are missing, In this
case,
the responsibility is totally mine.
"Babele, _
\W
| the Mr. confuse
d the tongue of all the earth'' (Genesis, 11) |by] FRANCO
ANDREUCCI
The old man dreams of returning to speak the universa
l tongue of the Genesis and of
annul the chastisemen
t of Babele, hard [e'] to die. In the XIX century he engages the character
of the artful idiom and then, in our century, that of the automatic translator. Tied hope a time
to the legends of the [positivismo], contradicted from the bankruptcy of the introduction of
the [esperanto], she becomes alive anchor in a fascinating and modern way from the protection
of the computer
. Studied in the Soviet Union in the years '30 and then, after the Second world war,
in the United States, the [possibilita*] of the automatic tied translation to the action of
a
computer
has done in the last years of the footstep
s from giant. If you/he/shc/it arc thought that the dimen-
sion of an electronic dictionary in line [e*] passed from the 250 words of the 1954 to the actual
[eentinaia
j of [migliaiaj, we one
[puo'
j make account that at least a problem |e'J having faced in
acceptabl
e way.
Borne from the numerous experiences scientific [svoltesi] in the linguisti
c field for the auto-
matic translation, the idea has found a recent commercial realization in the programs ^Language
Assistant Series'
η
of the MicroTac Software. The programs—that they arc called Italian Assistant,
German Assistant, French Assistant, Spanish Assistant and they cost $99,95 each—they foresee
the translation in the two senses between the English from a part and the Italian, the French, the
German and the Spanish from the other. They represent an enormous footstep in ahead (respect
to the by now "Old" dictionaries electronic [tascabili] or to the automatic translators of phrases)
for their [elasticita'l and their [capacita'] of answer complex challenges. This critique concerns
the Italian part of the program in his release for Windows entirely (MicroTac Software Assistant
Windows
[for],
LverJ.
1.00a).
284
INTERNATIONAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS
To be able to salvage the message, the user needs to know how to replace the special
characters either manually or with special software tools. Hence, the designers of the
transnational DSS need to concern themselves with the way in which data are retrieved
from corporate databases and transmitted to all users. In addition, designers need to be
concerned about the way in which data from external databases, such as network news
services, are retrieved and transmitted.
Translations can also affect the user interface in terms of its appearance. One primary
problem is the orientation of the text. For example, in the United States, most users feel
comfortable with menus that appear at the top of a screen that orient from left to right
because that is the way we read. Most standard menuing systems in the United States use
such an orientation, and it has been very popular. However, it is common to use a vertical
orientation for text in Japan, causing difficulties for software companies trying to make
their products more user friendly. It is necessary not only to translate the words in the
menus and help screens but also to change the orientation of the entire screen to a vertical
framework (associated with their reading and writing conventions).
In addition, many languages are considerably more verbose than English. Or, if the
language requires special characters, they may assume more space than standard Roman
characters. For example, since Chinese and Japanese characters assume twice the width of
a standard Roman character, the standard screen holds only 40 Japanese characters (rather
than the standard 80 Roman characters). Hence, translation of elementary aspects of the
system design, including prompts and labels, may require an entire screen redesign in order
to accommodate the translated terms. For example, consider Figure 6.2, which provides a
screen design for a dashboard developed in English, Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic. Notice
how the screen needed to be reengineered to accommodate the vertical orientation of the
Japanese, the right-to-left orientation of the Arabic, and the range of special characters
needed for all three.
Design Insights
The Arabic Languag
e
'■
Efforts to develop Arabic DSS have been plagued with problems of how to search for infor-
;
mation in a database. Standard Arabia which is used consistently in written language, has 29
letters, some of which can be adjusted with five different diacritics. In addition, the alphabet
consists of several sets of homophones, a rich morphology, and standardized spelling of Arabic
names is error
prone
>
Finally, there are almost 20 encodings currently in use for Arabic. Thus,
in order to create accurate queries of the database in a
DSS,
there needs to be some preprocess-
ing of the input data. Some have experimented with eliminating the diacritics. Otair, Al-Sardi,
and Al-Gialain (2008), however, have developed a more promising intermediary product that
attempts to understand the request before transforming them into SQL queries. Their approach
processes the words using a stem-based morphological analysis. The tool, called the Arabic
Query Analyzer (which is DMBS and application independent), has been fully implemented and
has shown tangible performance metrics. A related effort by El-Haj and Hammo (2008) built
a query-oriented text summarization system to respond to natural language queries in Arabic*
Such a system could help decision makers understand the range of documents, both internal
and on the Internet, that might be of help in a choice context. This too has shown promising
results.
I I
INTERNATIONAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS
285
Even when the users can select one language for the system, they may use it quite
differently. Researchers in the area of communication long have known that cultures com-
municate distinctively.
4
Berger (1984, p. 43) notes that "even when they speak the same
language, there are problems as a result of differences in education, class, level and cultural
backgrounds." Hence, even though the individuals themselves
are
providing the translations,
they may miss the meaning of information, especially if it contains slang or colloquialisms.
For example, the British use the term
billion
to mean what Americans call
trillion.
That
is,
the British use
thousand million
when referring to what Americans call a billion and
thus a billion is not encountered until one increases another order of magnitude (hence,
the American's
trillion).
If one were not careful when translating the American version of
the English language into the British version of the English language, one might miss the
significant implications of size difference.
4
"The difference between the
almost
right
word and the
right
word is really a large matter—'tis the
difference between the lightening bug and the lightening" (Mark
Twain,
U. S. author).
Design Insights
The Japanese Language
Japanese text requires special attention in the design of DSS because of the complexity of the
language. Some of the issues which contribut
e to the difficulty for a transnational DSS are
highlighted below. In Japanese, one cannot assume that one byte is equivalen
t to one character,
because Japanese characters generally require multiple bytes for representation. The Japanese
character set contains over 10,000 characters. The Japanese writing system is a mixture of four
different writing systems; Roman, Hiragana, Katakana, and KanjL
■ Roman characters correspond to the 52 characters (including both uppercase and lower-
case) of the English language. In addition, there are Roman characters associated with the
10 numerials. Japanese use the Roman characters primarily in the construction of tables
and in the creation of acronyms.
* Hiragana characters are ones that represent sounds, such as syllables. Generally, these
characters are used to create suffixes for some words or to write native Japanese words.
The Hiragana characters appear to have a calligraphic look. For example, the character
Ϊ
represents the sound made by the letters
i(
ma" whereas the character
=
represents the
sound made by the combination of letters "mi.
71
* Katakana characters represent a phonetic alphabet as well However, they are used to
represent words of foreign origin, such as bread, -
Prj
(pronounced "pan
1
'), which was
derived from the Portuguese word for bread,
pdo
(pronounced
4t
pown
1i
). In addition
, they
are used for emphasis, similar to the way we use italics in English. The Katakana characters
have a squared, rigid look in compariso
n to the Hiragan
a characters. For example, the
character
?
represents the sound made by the combination of "ma" while the character
f
represents the sound made by the combination of letters "ku."
* Kanji characters were borrowed from the Chinese over 1500 years ago. There are tens
of thousands of these characters in use by the Japanese. These characters represent spe-
cific words or combinations of words. For example,
*
when used alone indicates a tree,
while two of the character, **, indicates woods and three of the character, ***, means a
forest,
There is no recognized character set for Japanese similar to ASCII for English. Nor is there a
universally recognized encoding method for Japanese.
286
INTERNATIONAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS
(a)
Figure 6.2. Language effects on screen design. The same information is provided in (a) English,
(b) Chinese, (c) Arabic, and (d) Japanese.
Design Insigh
nexpected Consequence
s of Technology Decisions
The move to computerization in cullures with complex alphabets can introduce unwanted impacts
on society. Consider the Chinese language, which has roughly 55,000 characters, although only
3500 are in everyday use. When the Public Security Bureau modernized its operations, managers,
not surprisi
ngly,
decided that it would be easier
to
track i ts citizens if information was computerized
rather than handwritten. System designers compromised between the number of characters in ev-
eryday use and the census of
all
characters by allowing the system to use 32,352 unique characters,
While this decision did not have much impact on the operation of the system, or most of the
information stored in the system, it did have a major impact on the recording of people's names.
Family names were not
a
problem since only 100 surnames cover 85%
of
China's
1.3
billion
citizens. (By comparison,
it
takes 70,000 surnames
to
cover 90%
of
Americans.) As
a
result,
many Chinese parents look to classical Chinese to find
a
first name for their children, in part to
find
a
pleasing name and
in
part
to
help the child stand out
in
society. Clearly, these classical
names cannot be spelled using the 32,352 characters in the Public Security Bureau's system,
Government officials have told individuals with these unique names that they musi change
their name so they can be listed in the database. Further, they are working on a list of "approved
1
'
characters from which future parents must select children's names.
INTERNATIONAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS
287
(b)
Figure 6.2.
(Continued)
Language effects on screen design.
Translation into Chinese by Aihua Yan.
Translation also needs to be aware of
how
different cultures adopt the context informa-
tion that surrounds the communication. Many cultures of Asia, Latin America, Africa, and
the Middle East are high-context
cultures.
In those cultures, people are highly influenced by
the context when interpreting the meaning of communication. So, what is meant depends
on the environment in which something is said or written. By contrast, cultures of North
America and Australia place more emphasis on what is said to determine meaning than the
context in which it is said.
Similarly, different languages and cultures have different ways of representing dates,
currency, and other units of measurement. For example,
3/1/10
means March 1, 2010,
in the United States, but January 3, 2010, in most of Europe. Many companies in Japan
continue to use the Japanese Era Name for years rather than the Common Era designation.
So,
rather than regarding the year as 2010, they would regard it as Heisei 22 (or 22 years of
the reign of
the
current emperor). Further, some areas of Eastern Asia cling to the "Chinese
calendar," which is a blend of the lunar and solar calendars. Similarly, Iran, Afghanistan,
and related societies use the Solar Hejri calendar, so the year 2010 would be 1388 or 1389
depending on the time of year (the calendar year begins about March 21 of the Gregorian
calendar).
288
INTERNATIONAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS
(C)
Figure 6.2.
(Continued)
Language effects on screen design.
Translation into Arabic by Michael Martinich-Sauter.
Languages have different rules for pronunciation and therefore meanings which need
to be accommodated. For example, a character with an umlaut will have different impacts
in Finnish than in German, even though they may look the same to an English audience.
Finally, different languages and different cultures treat the concept of uppercase and
lowercase characters differently. For example, the Hebrew language uses lowercase letters
only
when the text is handwritten and uppercase letters only when the text is printed. In
this case, the system designer using a combination of uppercase and lowercase characters
in English to convey information would not be able to have the same message sent on the
Arabic screen.
Icons can also be a source of confusion when used transnationally because they have
quite different interpretations. Those shown in Figure 6.3 are common icons that might be
used to give quick visual cues on a dashboard to help the decision maker know whether
conditions are improving or not. Clearly, given the range of interpretations of those icons
across the world, it would not be prudent to use them in a system that would be used
transnationally. In fact, given the internationalization of the employees of most companies,
even if they are solely located in a given country, such icons might not convey the intended
purpose.
INFORMATION AVAILABILITY STANDARDS
289
(d)
Figure 6.2.
(Continued)
Language effects on screen design.
Translation into Japanese by Mihiro Sasaki.
There
is
every reason
to
believe that other
less
obvious problems of user interface would
be different among cultures as well. Unfortunately, if the user interface is unacceptable to
users,
they will not use the DSS. Hence, it has an important and direct influence on
the ability of the user to realize the full potential of the system. The impact of culture
upon the database management system and the model management system in transnational
DSS is even less intuitive. The remainder of this chapter will highlight some of the legal,
cultural, and economic issues that need to be addressed when defining DSS for transnational
corporations.
INFORMATION AVAILABILITY STANDARDS
One of the assumptions regarding transnational DSS is that the company can, in fact, share
the desired information in all relevant
venues.
This includes the ability to collect information
on a microlevel and to assemble information selectively, to correlate information or in any
way create new information from the original data, and to share that information across
borders. This implies that the cultures and the laws of the countries are consistent on the
view of information, its privacy, and its shareability. In addition, the goal implies that the
manner in which those views of privacy and shareability are
enforced
is consistent among
the venues. This often is related to how they approach the relative openness of their borders,
investment, and business and commercial innovations—and hence can be quite different,
290
INTERNATIONAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS
Figure 6.3. Gestures and their interpretation cross culturally.
even between two cultures which appear to share a similar "social" culture, such as the
United States and Canada.
Data Privacy
Data privacy addresses the question of what information can be accumulated about individ-
uals,
corporations, or enterprises and how that information can be processed and shared. In
the United States, we have high expectations for privacy and citizens
believe
their privacy
is quite protected. After all, the Fourth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution states:
The
right
of
people
to be secure in their
persons,
houses, papers and effects against unrea-
sonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon
probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to
be searched and the person or things to be seized.
Further, the 1965 landmark Supreme Court case
Griswold
v.
Connecticut
upheld an indi-
vidual's right to privacy, citing the Ninth Amendment:
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or
disparage others retained by the people.
INFORMATION AVAILABILITY STANDARDS
291
In 1967, a Panel on Privacy and Behavioral Research reporting to the Office of Science and
Technology stated (Privacy and Behavioral Research, 1967, p. 8):
The right to privacy is the right of the individual to decide for himself
how
much he will
share with others his thoughts, his feelings and the facts of his personal life... Actually
what is private varies from day to day and setting to setting.
In other words, we generally believe in the protection of the right to privacy of individual,
personal information. Not all countries share this perception of privacy. For example,
totalitarian governments are known for neglecting the rights of citizens' privacy.
However, even in America, where citizens believe their privacy is protected, enforce-
ment of privacy regulations is not extensive. Very few states provide any strength or
enforcement to that right. In 1977, the Federal Privacy Protection Study Commission
found an imbalance between the rights of individuals and those of record keeping or-
ganizations. Specifically it suggested a variance between the need for information and
the requests for disclosure. In particular, it suggests that many recordkeeping organiza-
tions are intrusive to the individual and that the extent and nature of recordkeeping need
better delineation, and enforceable expectations of confidentiality by law or statute need
establishment.
As a result, Congress passed The Computer Security Act of 1987, which attempts
to define that information in need of protection. It defines "sensitive information" as
that which, if lost, misused, accessed, or modified without authorization, could adversely
affect the privacy of individuals and be a violation of the Privacy Act. However, each
citizen differs with regard to precisely
what
it considers sensitive under that definition.
Further, while mandated to require "informed consent" prior to data collection, disclosure
is permitted
without
consent to those within an agency who have a "need for the record
in the performance of their duties" or to agencies in connection with "routine uses" for
purposes "compatible with the purposes for which it was collected."
While this sounds as if no one can get access to data without individuals knowing
about it, the reality is far different. First, these statements only apply to data collected by
governmental agencies and some specified private agencies such as banks. Second, few
individuals read or understand the "informed consent" clause provided on most application
forms.
Even fewer individuals would understand how far the consent actually applies. In
reality, except in specific instances such as health records, in the United States, whoever
collects and digitalizes data has the right to store and use it—regardless of whether the
individual knows the data were collected or gave permission for them to be collected. If
the data are incorrectly attributed or keyed or are "out of context," it is the responsibility of
the individual to correct his or her personal data. The introduction of the Patriot Act in 2001
gave increasing rights to the government to use whatever information they could collect.
Further, Internet Sites, such as Facebook, and Internet-based tools, such as those provided
by Google have made access to one's data even less Secure.
In a recent Harris-Equifax Poll:
• Seventy-six percent of Americans believe they have lost all control over
how
personal
information about them is circulated.
• Eighty-nine percent believe that computers have made it easier for someone to
improperly obtain personal and confidential information on them.
292
INTERNATIONAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS
• Sixty-eight percent believe that computers represent
a
threat
to
their personal privacy.
• Sixty-six percent believe there are not adequate safeguards to protect the privacy of
personal information stored in computers.
• Sixty-seven percent believe that if privacy is to be preserved, the use of computers
must be restricted.
"Informed consent" also implies the individual enters into the agreement freely and
openly. However, the reality is that the failure to provide this consent results in not getting
licenses, credit, or other privileges in society. In other words, you must provide it or
you will not have full rights. And if the data are collected by most private enterprises,
it can be released or sold to other organizations unless specific statements prohibiting it
are signed.
Once collected, the data may be kept in a database
forever.
This is particularly prob-
lematic if an error is originally entered and if the customer has no way of knowing that the
error was entered. Furthermore, the statutes in the United States put the responsibility for
examining the data to ensure its accuracy on the
consumer,
not on the group collecting the
data. A small percentage of individuals understand the number of ways errors occur in the
transcription of data, the possibility for erroneously merging data, or the wide possibility
of errors in the data processing capabilities. Hence, few individuals check those records to
which they have access, and so errors can multiply.
Other cultures take a much stronger stance on the protection of citizens' rights to
privacy. For example, in Canada, data collection companies must publish their policies,
such as those shown regarding Equifax. Further, the 2001 Personal Information Protection
and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) gives individuals the right to:
• Understand the reasons organizations collect, use, or disclose personal information
• Expect organizations to collect, use, or disclose personal information in a reasonable
and appropriate way
• Understand who in the organization is responsible for protecting individuals' per-
sonal information
• Expect organizations to protect the personal information in a reasonable and security
way
• Expect the personal information held by the organizations to be accurate, complete,
and up to date
• Have access to their personal information and ask for any corrections or have the
right to complain to the organizations
The PIPEDA requires organizations to:
• Obtain consent before they collect, use, and disclose any personal information
• Collect personal information in a reasonable, appropriate, and lawful way
• Establish personal information policies that are clear, reasonable, and ready
to
protect
individuals *
person information
INFORMATION AVAILABILITY STANDARDS 293
Equifax prides itself on being a trusted steward of personal information and is committed to
protecting the privary of all personal information under its control. We arc publishing this Privacy
Policy to provide a comprehensive overview of our practices and procedures relating to the
protection of personal information as well as its use, collection and disclosure.
Many provinces have laws that specifically protect consumer credit information. The laws
vary from one jurisdiction to the next, but most are similar in their intent. The federal government
has also enacted the Personal Information Protectio
n and Electronic Documents Act, which
governs the protection of personal information and electronic data, Some provinces have also
adopted local privacy legislation, To ensure consistent service to consumers across Canada,
Equifax has based this Privacy Policy on the federal law.
Equifax Statement of Consumer Rights
Equifax believes that Canadians have the following fundamental rights:
* The right to know what information has been collected, stored and reported about them.
* The right to be able to review the information reported about them in a reasonable time,
in a format that is understandable
» and with an ability to challenge and correct inaccurate
information.
• The right to expect that the information about them that is collected or stored will not be
used for any purpose
s other than those permitte
d by law,
• The right to have information about them safeguarded using secure storage, confidential
handling within the organization, and secure transmittal to authorized and legitimate users.
• The right to be treated with respect and fairness when information about them is beign
used.
* The right to privacy consistent with the requests they make of business.
• The right to expect levels of accuracy considtent with the industry's best practices of
record keeping and information systems management,
* The right to have their applications for benefits or opportunities evaluated on the basis of
relevant and accurate information,
Principle
No*
5- Limiting
Use,
Disclosure and Retention Credit Information
Equifax limits the use, disclosure and retention of your credit information in accordanc
e with
applicable credit reproting and privacy laws. An Equifax customer must have your consent and a
purpose permitted by law to access Equifax consumer credit reports. All Equifax customers are
required to go through the Equifax application screening process and access is not granted to all
applicants. The customers that are accepted by Equifax are carefully screened and contractually
obliged to respect and abide by all applicable credit reporting and privacy laws, Equifax conducts
periodic audits to ensure that Equifax customers are acting in compliance with their contractual
and legal obligations
.
As a Canadian consumer, you have the right to know the full and complete content of
your Equifax consumer credit file. Equifax will disclose your credit information to you free of
charge by mail or telephone, Equifax will respond to any questions or concerns that yo may have
regarding your Equifax consumer credit file* For information about how to obtain your personal
information, please refer to the FAQ section at the end of this policy.
Credit information in your consumer credit file is maintained in accordance with legislated
data retention guidelines.
This is summarized from the Equifax Canada Inc. Privacy Policy - CANADA, 2010. Copyright
©
2010, Equifax Canada Inc. The document was obtained from the Equifax Canada office and
is reprinted here with permissio
n of Equifax Canada, Inc.
INTERNATIONAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS
It has been suggested that European countries and others occupied during World
War II and/or repressed by Communist governments have a strong recollection of the
problems that can accrue if data are made available too freely. Hence, the right to data
privacy is heavily regulated and rigidly enforced in Europe. Article 8 of the European
Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) provides a right to respect for one's "private and
family life, his home and his correspondence," subject to certain restrictions, and the
European Court of Human Rights has given this article a very broad interpretation in its
jurisprudence.
Member states of the European Union (EU) are also signatories of the European
Convention on Human Rights and the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with
Regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data. The European Commission decided
to harmonize data protection regulation and proposed the directive on the protection of
personal data by adopting a number of key principles with which individual country's
legislation must comply. These eight principles, then, have been adopted in one form or
another by all countries in the EU and require data to be:
• Fairly and lawfully processed
• Processed for limited purposes
• Adequate, relevant, and not excessive
• Accurate
• Not kept longer than necessary
• Processed in accordance with the data subject's rights
• Secure
• Not transferred to countries without adequate protection
In operation, the European Community (EC) provides the following fair-use policy
(di Talamo, 1991):
• Data use is prohibited without authorization of the subject.
• Data subjects must be personally notified of to whom information has been passed
and for what purpose.
• Data subject can claim compensation if data are misused and caused damage.
• EC data can only be transferred out of the EC if
the
receiving country can guarantee
the same level of protection.
In these cases, the burden of ensuring that the data are really relevant and accurate
is kept on the organization collecting the data. In fact, in Sweden, organizations wanting
to collect data on individuals must apply to the Data Inspection Board and be granted a
license to do so. In France, organizations are required to destroy data after the specific
application for which they were collected is completed. Further, in Italy, most labor unions
have agreements with organizations that give them the right to approve any data maintained
about individuals in corporate databases.
In early
1995,
The Council of Ministers of the European Community adopted
a
common
position on the European data protection directive. The directive is significant for European
privacy because it will necessitate the adoption of privacy safeguards in the remaining
European countries that do not yet have legislation. In addition, it will require changes
in countries with existing privacy laws because the directive takes a stronger position on
data protection than existing national laws. It is also believed that the directive will result
INFORMATION AVAILABILITY STANDARDS
295
in greater scrutiny of countries without a data protection commission and/or adequate
legislative protections.
So,
how do these laws and customs affect the use of transnational DSS? Many uses of
DSS technology in the United States could be crippled by these regulations.
5
In general,
businesses which depend on the manipulation of computer data lists, such as direct-mail
companies, credit reference agencies, or marketing researchers, would
be
hampered
by
these
EC directives. First, no data about an individual could be processed or transmitted without
that person's informed consent. This means a database could not include a person's name
unless they
specifically authorized it.
Many individuals would not return an authorization
form; still others would reject the corporate's need to keep information about them, fearing
effects of computer tracking.
6
Second, the rules limit "profiling" people who share particular
characteristics. Finally, since the European position results in greater scrutiny of countries
without a data protection commission and/or adequate legislative protections such as the
United States, it may even affect the basic information sharing among companies, or even
among divisions of the same company.
Data Availability
Clearly not all information that is of interest in a DSS is about individuals in society.
Some of the information is about governments, corporations, competitors, statutes and
legal precedents, and so on. In order for the technology to be used to its fullest, there is a
need for the various cultures to share views on how such "public" information should be
shared. In the United States, the culture has taken its right to public information from the
First Amendment. However, not all countries share this right. Even a country as similar in
culture as Canada does not protect this right. This can present a problem if all parties using
a DSS cannot have access to the same information. Further it presents questions as to how
the statutes and customs apply. For example, if a DSS user is physically in country A but
accessing a computer and database in country B, do the laws and precedents of country A
hold or do those of country B hold? In other words, is it the individual's physical location
or logical location which dictates which statutes apply? International courts continue to
debate these issues.
5
Big credit card
companies,
banks,
airlines,
and
insurers
use
massively parallel processing in
an
effort
to divine which consumers are likely to buy what products and when. Marketing managers believe
this is a great contribution to their efforts. However, one business professor warns the fallout could
be that nasty ID companies begin abusing their newfound information: "The companies doing this
have a big responsibility. Otherwise there will be an information Chernobyl."
(Wall Street
Journal,
August
16,
1994,
p.
Bl.) In addition, as these efforts spread
to
international marketing, other cultures
will affect what is defined as responsible behavior.
6
George Orwell's book 1984 summarizes his prediction (which was shared by many others) of the
impact computers and
technology
as a whole would have
upon daily
life.
Many
citizens
were
outraged
at the thought they could be "tracked" as Orwell suggested. Orwell was correct in his prediction of
the ability of computers to track our activities. Of
course,
Orwell was generally wrong in his other
predictions regarding the impact of
computers.
Instead of enforcing uniformity as he had expected,
they promote heterogeneity and autonomy. Many believe that, because computers provide flexibility
and adaptability
to
our
activities,
we have
become
more
human,
not less
so,
when
we use
them (Kelly,
"Embrace It,"
Harper's,
May 1994).
INTERNATIONAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS
Data Flow
Even if there is agreement among all cultures affected by a particular transnational DSS
regarding the privacy or protection of data and the availability of data, there can still
be problems. There may be restrictions about where data can reside, where they can be
processed, and how access can be maintained. Some countries, such as Canada, maintain
that allowing data to be processed outside their borders would reduce their control over
disruptions in service, reduce their ability to ensure protection against personal privacy
violations and computer crime, jeopardize their jurisdiction over companies operating in
their borders, undermine the telecommunications system, and emphasize foreign values,
goods, and services. In addition, Canadian officials recognize the potential for both release
of information that is vital to Canada and the loss of independence and autonomy to other
countries
(Telecommunications and Canada,
1979). Similarly, in Britain, it is believed
that only its government can assess the national interest of information and the U.K.'s
vulnerability to disruptions in the availability of that information
(Making a Business of
Information,
1983).
Reports in both Latin America and Africa (Collier, 1988) recommend that:
• Data affecting national sovereignty, cultural identity, and technological progress
should be protected against processing in other countries.
• Data should remain in the country of origin.
• External information should be screened.
The three messages that guide all of these concerns about transborder data flow are the
following.
• It is imperative that the data processing industry of the country is preserved. If
transborder processing of data is allowed, the data processing industry would be
threatened and potentially eliminated. Since much of the hope for long-term eco-
nomic survival for most countries depends on their ability to participate in the
"information technology race" successfully, it is imperative that the data process-
ing industry be maintained and bolstered. For example, the Brazilian government
is concerned that if data are taken
from
Brazil for processing, both the software
and hardware markets will suffer. Hence, they only allow "processed" data to leave
its borders. Furthermore, data flow across borders potentially affects the transfer
of payments. For example, information sales (i.e., "fees and royalties) was about
$5.8 billion in 1980—doubled since 1970.
• National security can be jeopardized if
a
country becomes too dependent upon other
countries for vital data and services. This can provide a bargaining chip for political
hostage behavior.
• Cultural integrity is threatened as we allow greater amounts of the information we
view and the format in which we view it to be from another culture.
While these issues are not threatened by any
individual
use of data in a transnational
DSS,
they can be threatened by significant use in DSS as well as other data processing
jobs.
Since the regulations tend to be written in terms of data flows, not the purpose of
those flows, we as designers of DSS need to be aware of the prevailing laws, customs, and
expectations surrounding transborder data flows and build our systems to accommodate
them efficiently.
CROSS-CULTURAL MODELING
CROSS-CULTURAL MODELING
The model management component of a DSS, as defined in an earlier chapter, consists of
analytical
tools,
such
as
statistical models,
financial
models, artificial intelligence heuristics,
and operations research models, as well as a function for managing those tools. Some of
the tools consist of prepackaged analyses, while others provide the users the opportunity
to build their own models. The value of this component results from providing easily
implemented access to a wide variety of tools and assistance in using the tools, so the
users can and will investigate relevant patterns and issues in their data. Hence, the goal is
to enable users to select the models they perceive as most appropriate to assist with the
particular question under consideration. This goal is only achieved, however, if DSS are
designed appropriately for the individuals or groups who will be using them.
Clearly this is not a problem if all questions and all data have a unique modeling
opportunity associated with them. That is, if one believes there is only one way to analyze
data correctly, then the transnational nature of a DSS should not affect the design of
the model management system. However, that assumption is rarely correct. Even if one
simply acknowledges that different divisions will have different perspectives that will
affect their approach to decision making, it becomes obvious that they will need to consider
different data in different ways to address those differences in perspectives. Hence, the
various divisions will require different (and perhaps vastly different) models to support
those decisions. In addition, since management style is at least partially a function of the
state of development and technology, the variations in these factors will increase the
heterogeneity of models required of a successful system.
In addition, there is some evidence that cultural differences exacerbate the problem.
There is an international management literature that addresses "management practices" and
cross-cultural differences, including the use of analytical tools, the use of measurements,
planning, and control (Kobayshi, 1982). For example, some researchers have found that the
use of models is influenced by the culture and its norms of
the
decision maker (Evans et al.,
1989;
Hofstede, 1980). Different traditions and different values alter the variables which
are reasonable to consider, the need to optimize, and the methods by which to evaluate
alternatives. The parameters of the problem to consider in turn will influence the choice of
relevant models.
Some researchers have found that
formalized
approaches to decision making may not
differ as a function of culture [see, e.g., Al-Jafaray and Höflings worth (1983) or Negandhi
(1979)].
However, few would deny that the
formal
mechanisms of decision making, such
as the reports, forms, and other formal communications regarding the choice process, are
quite
different
from the actual process one used to get to the decision, such as the searches
necessary in a
DSS.
Furthermore, few researchers would deny that effective ways of leading
individuals and organizations can differ
as a
function of the environment in which they work.
Consider, for example, Figure 6.4, which illustrates the cultural assumptions of work ethics
in the United States and in Asian countries. These differences affect how people work,
how incentives can be established, and what will guide their management. Clearly, the
process by which one could encourage or convince individuals or groups is also affected
by those assumptions.
7
As such, it is clear that the decision support provided to individuals
or groups in those different cultures will also differ. In fact, Hofstede (1994) notes that any
7
The phrase, "There are truths in one country which are falsehoods in another," has been attributed
to Blaise Pascal circa 1700. Such differences affect criteria and other decision processes.
298
INTERNATIONAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS
. Work is a necessity, but not a goal in
# Work is
9
ood for
P
eo
P
le
-
itself
· · People's capacities should be utilized
• People should find their rightful place, maximally.
in peace and harmony with their · There are "organizational objectives"
environment.
that exist apart from pe0
ple.
• Absolute objectives exist only with .
People in
organizations behave as
God.
In the world, persons in authority unattached individuals.
positions represent God, so their
objectives should be followed.
• People behave as members of a
family and/or group. Those who do not
are rejected by society.
Figure 6.4. Comparison of cultural assumptions.
Source:
Adapted with permission from G. Hofstede, "Management Scientists Are Human,"
Man-
agement
Science,
40(1), January 1994, pp. 4-13. Copyright 1994. The Institute for Operations
Research and the Management Sciences, Hanover, MD.
system of leading and coordinating the work of employed persons should be geared to their
"collective mental programs ... that is their culture." These collective mental programs
cannot be identified as superior or inferior to one another. Rather, the culture it is a response
to the environment from which it evolved.
From this perspective, it is not useful to debate whether or not culture will affect
the model management needs, but rather the debate should be on
how
culture will affect the
model management
needs.
To answer
this,
first it is necessary to define what is meant by the
term
culture.
While there is not universal agreement upon how to define a culture, we can
rely upon the cultural anthropological literature to find a variety of measures for defining
and evaluating culture. A culture cannot be defined solely in terms of the nation in which it
exists.
Many national boundaries are historically artificial: some nations contain multiple
distinct cultures, while other nations share a culture with geographically adjacent nations.
Examination of only cross-national differences misses a wide range of characteristics that
distinguish among cultures. Hence, herein, we will attempt to discuss culture in terms of
the
dimensions
which define it, not generalizations about specific countries. While we will
discuss what some of these issues mean in terms of
the
choice process and DSS for specific
countries, in general, we need to look at the individual dimensions to help guide the DSS
CROSS-CULTURAL MODELING
299
development process. Table 6.1 provides a summary of dimensions noted in the cultural
anthropology literature.
Several researchers have identified uncertainty avoidance as a measure of culture.
For example, Hofstede (1983) noted that cultures differ in their patterns of coping with
ambiguity and uncertainty. Cultures that accept uncertainty will take risks easily. As a
result, they are also more able to accept differences in others, such as in their opinions
or behaviors. These cultures accept "relative truths" and evaluate options in terms of the
current environment, not compared to a rigid standard. Cultures in which uncertainty is less
well accepted try to shield individuals from the unknown. Such cultures tend to adopt laws
and procedures which facilitate similarity of thought and behavior. As a result, the cultures
are aggressively intolerant for deviant behaviors and opinions as well as for any action or
individual which threatens their view of the world.
District planning in India operates on a five-year cycle. Each ministry of the central government
and each state governmen
t prepare a plan which is then compiled into the national five-year plan,
Bhatnagar and Jajoo (1987) developed a DSS intended to assist with the development of these
plans.
The focaJ point of the planning
is
a district, which has
a
population of about
1
million. District-
level plans for each sector are passed upward to the state level where they are consolidated for
all districts. Prior to the development of the DSS, the exercis
e of communications between and
among state headquarters and the district to finalize a plan may have taken
seven to eight months.
In addition, two key decisions in these five-year plans are made arbitrarily due to the
unavailabilit
y of the necessary information: (a) a district wise allocation of the total available
budget for the department and (b) selecting a specific location choice for a particular facility.
An earlier version of th DSS was developed. Overall, it was considered a success. Almost
everyone who saw it recognized its potential to serve as an aid to planning within a district.
However, it was recognized that such applications could be develope
d only if computers supporting
graphic facilities were available within the state and district At that time such graphic facilities
were not accessible,
Since today's microcomputers offer reasonable graphic facilities, a second version was
created with vastly improved interaction capabilities. This second system provided more general
data structures and improved command language structure to simplify interaction
. The commands
allowed selection of villages from a table on the basis of their attributes, like the existence of a
particula
r type of facility or the distance from it Other sets of commands display a set of villages
on a map, allow interaction with the displayed map, and produce a printed report on the selected
villages. The software wa.s table driven, offering the flexibility of carrying out various types of
analysis by using the commands in an appropriate sequence.
This DSS was accepted because five key benefits were provided by the system; (a) the
graphics and maps created a level of understanding which went above and beyond the level which
could be achieved without a DSS; (b) the illustrative graphics helped to create integration across
governmental departments; (c) the quality of decisions were enhanced and the time taken to create
the plans was reduced greatly; (d) the integrated data offered an easy tool to determine relative
allocations among departments based on existing facilities rather than on the basis of the national
norm, thereby creating
a
better balance of distribution!
; and (e) it provided an accurat
e assessment
of a district's
ς
'backwardness indicator" which is often used for allocating funds. Overall, it was
determined that the extensiv
e graphical interface was the biggest selling feature for the users.
The district planning DSS example provided insight into the user interface issues when
designing a DSS for India. In particular, it suggested that the graphical images help to cross
cultural and communicatio
n barriers in India to make the system more usable,
INTERNATIONAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS
Table 6.1. Possible Dimensions of Culture
Long-term orientation
Attitude about uncertainty
Person-nature relation
Activity index
Human-nature attitudes
Power distance
Individualism
Masculinity index
This attitude toward uncertainty affects decision-making needs. For example, indi-
viduals in cultures with high uncertainty avoidance will be more likely to conduct highly
structured analyses and less ad hoc analyses. Since they will want to be prepared for all
possible contingencies, they will be likely to evaluate greater numbers of alternatives and
more facets of those alternatives. Further, if they have employed optimization, they will
be likely to seek postoptimality analyses prior to selecting an alternative for implemen-
tation.
The
person-nature orientation
is the second dimension of culture. This measures the
individual or group's view of their relative dominance over fate. The dimension varies from,
at the one end, individuals believing they have no effect on the future. These individuals
perceive they must accept the inevitable, and hence there is no planning for contingencies.
In the middle of the dimension are individuals who believe that there is a balance between
people and nature. At the other end of the dimension are those who believe in mastery of
their fates if they have enough ability to overcome obstacles.
This dimension is likely to affect an individual's basic likelihood of accepting technol-
ogy as a decision-making tool. Those who feel in control of their fate encourage the use of
technology as a way of meeting their goals, while those who perceive they have no control
are unlikely to adopt technology readily.
In addition, one's perception of one's ability to dominate fate will affect an attitude
toward planning. Populations in cultures that do not accept one's ability to influence the
future do not participate in long-range planning activities. Evan (1975) associates this with
their belief in "luck" as the major influencing factor. Since luck cannot, in their view of the
world, be planned, they do not practice much long-range or strategic planning. Rather, it is
better to wait and respond as best one can. Hence, these decision makers emphasize reactive
decision making. On the other hand, individuals who believe they can master their fates,
are more likely to conduct strategic and contingency planning. Their goal is to improve
their relative position (either individually or as a group) to influence destiny.
Many of
the
cultures in the middle area of
this
dimension focus on maintaining a "har-
mony" with nature. For example, they believe that the more harmonious a social structure
and/or organizational structure, the more likely they are to attract "luck" for the organiza-
tion. In these cultures, the top executives are likely to attempt to create harmony through
meetings, gatherings, and so on. This implies, in turn, that more of their responsibilities
are delegated to lower levels in the organization. Hence, broader informational needs and
greater authority are likely to be of less importance to those organizations.
Evan (1975) and Negandhi (1983) hypothesize that this orientation affects the formality
within an organization, the direction of communication, and the output of the organiza-
tion. In particular, they note that cultures with strong mastery-of-destiny attitudes tend
to have quite formal methods of socialization, multidirectional communication, and high
CROSS-CULTURAL MODELING
levels of output. With these factors come well-established and structured conventions for
decision-making procedures, criteria, and models. In addition, these cultures will require
decision-making analyses and review of analyses at various levels in an organization.
Societies with a lower confidence of their ability to master fate would be more likely
to have informal methods of socialization, unidirectional communication, and low levels
of output. Hence, they tend to have strong control over the types of information available
at each level of the organization and the kinds of analyses that might be constructed.
The third dimension, the
power distance,
is a related concept. Like uncertainty avoid-
ance,
power distance refers to the manner in which people are organized. Power distance
refers to those aspects of how differences or questions are resolved. In particular, it refers
to the question of who is empowered to make those decisions. In a high-power-distance
culture, few people are empowered to decide differences of opinion or to make decisions on
the best path to follow when experiencing uncertainty. These few are the "bosses," whose
choice is adopted and not questioned. On the other hand, in a low-power-distance culture,
individuals are empowered to make decisions under uncertainty and to work things out
for themselves. This aspect of decision making is operationalized in terms of the level of
centralization of decision making in a department or organization as well as in terms of the
freedom with which information flows in an organization.
The fourth dimension,
activity orientation,
represents the manner in which people eval-
uate activity and accomplishments. In particular, it
is a
description of the mode of expression
and hence the mechanism by which activity should be evaluated (see, e.g., Kluckhohn and
Strodtbeck, 1961). At one end of the spectrum is a culture that adopts a spontaneous activity
and expression of attitudes. They do not accept planning or development of activities and
hence believe it is inappropriate to evaluate activities against some planned agenda. Instead,
they evaluate the worth of an alternative by what it
"is,"
not what it can
do.
At the other end
of the spectrum is a culture which emphasizes "getting the job done." These individuals
prefer activities with measurable outcomes that can be judged against objective standards.
This orientation significantly affects one's goal orientation and one's willingness to
adopt standards. Clearly those cultures which regard getting a task completed are more
likely to adopt standards for evaluation and therefore submit alternatives to a more uniform
evaluation. Associated with this is a stronger tendency to depend upon optimization tech-
niques of
analysis.
Cultures which emphasize the other end of the spectrum are more likely
to rely upon descriptive measures of analysis to provide evidence of the relative worth of
the alternative. These individuals are more likely to be interested in current, static measures
of worth, while individuals requiring standardized evaluations are more likely to prefer
historical data rating the development of the alternative.
Evans, Hau, and Sculli (1989) believe this orientation is associated with a culture's
relative levels of aggressiveness in management and decision making. At one end, the
decision makers are seen as more aggressive. Since they adopt standards for evaluation and
want to select the "best" alternative, they tend to adopt efficiency as an important criterion.
Decision makers at the other end are more passive and defensive. They tend to adopt "social
harmony"—and the absence of public disagreement—as an important factor to consider
in decision making. Therefore, they are likely to allow greater flexibility in the alternative
generation and evaluation, especially at the early stages of decision making.
The fifth dimension is the
human-nature
orientation, as proposed by Kluckhohn and
Strodtbeck (1961). This dimension measures the likelihood of finding innate "goodness" in
human nature and hence identifies what motivates people in their actions. If one adopts an
attitude that people are intrinsically bad, then one needs to adopt planning and management
mechanisms that constantly control and discipline workers and departments in order to
INTERNATIONAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS
obtain good results from the organization. Decision makers need to be able to observe
people and projects carefully and frequently so as to detect problems as soon as possible.
The more strongly held the philosophy, the tighter such monitoring would be.
On the other hand, if one adopts a view of society that is basically good, then the goal
of monitoring systems changes dramatically. Instead of designing such systems to identify
problems, monitoring systems are created to detect opportunities for development, growth,
and/or strategic advantage.
Evans, Hau, and Sculli (1989) claim that the human-nature orientation also influences
the flexibility exhibited toward managerial communication. The more a culture adopts an
"evil" view of society, the less likely superiors would want alternative opinions, especially
from subordinates. Cultures that adopt a "good" view of society are more likely to tolerate
conflict situations associated with debates of
the
relative merits of alternatives and methods
for evaluating alternatives. In this latter case, through more levels of the organization deci-
sion makers need support from greater use of analytical tools, more alternative generation
capabilities, and greater information retrieval.
The sixth dimension is
individualism.
At one end of the spectrum are cultures that
emphasize the continuity of the group and hence the group goals are paramount in the
decision-making efforts. These groups are generally homogenous in some fashion and want
to stay that way. On the other hand, at the other end of the spectrum are cultures in which
the value of autonomy of the members of the group is seen as the only important criterion
for decision making. Obviously, there are many points between these two on the spectrum.
Cultures that hold the individualistic view emphasize achieving the goals of the indi-
vidual above all others. These people may accept and pursue group goals, but only if they
do not conflict with their own. Collateral societies, on the other hand, emphasize the goals
and welfare of the extended group, such as an organization. Those cultures at the extreme
point of this dimension stress the importance of continuity of the group through time and
ordered progression of individuals within the group.
Clearly, then, the level of individualism associated with a culture will affect the goals
adopted and pursued in decision making as well as decision makers' general compliance
with authority in considering alternatives. Evan (1975) and Negandhi (1983) postulate that
this orientation will affect the formalization of the socialization function and the direction
of communication within an organization. They suggest that cultures that emphasize the
individualistic component will have formal means of socialization within the organization
and strong multidirectional communication among decision makers. Cultures that empha-
size the group component, on the other hand, will have informal means of socialization
within the organization and unidirectional communication. As stated previously, this will
in turn affect the types of analyses and standards of alternatives considered, the need for
controls on information within the organization, and the need for sharing analyses among
levels within the organization.
The last dimension is the masculinity index of
a
culture.
This dimension reflects the as-
sociation of specific attributes such as assertiveness, performance, competition, and success
with the role of men in society. In addition, it reflects the association of more commonly ac-
cepted feminine attributes, such as quality of
life,
strong personal relationships, and care for
the weak, with the role of men in society. In total, the dimension relates to how much differ-
ence exists in the culture between "men's roles in societies" and "women's roles in society,"
or, said differently, how much gender equality exists in a culture. This in turn results in the
culture's calibration of the worth of "masculine" values and "feminine" values in society.
Consider Table 6.2, in which Hofstede summarizes his measurement of several coun-
tries with regard to each of these dimensions. It is difficult to discuss such differences
without resulting to stereotypes. What is most important to note at this point is that there
EFFECTS OF CULTURE ON DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM
303
Table 6.2. Cultural Scores for 12 Countries
Country
Arab countries
France
Germany
Great Britain
Netherlands
Hong Kong
Indonesia
Japan
Brazil
Mexico
United States
West Africa
Power
Distance
80
68
35
35
38
68
78
54
69
81
40
77
Uncertainty
Avoidance
68
86
65
35
53
29
48
92
76
82
46
54
Individualism
38
71
67
89
80
25
14
46
38
30
91
20
Masculinity
Index
53
43
66
66
14
57
46
95
49
69
65
46
Long-Term
Orientation
31
25
44
96
80
65
29
16
Source:
Adapted from
G.
Hofstede, "Management Scientists are
Human,"
Management Science
40(1),
January,
1994,
pp. 4-13. Reprinted with permission from The Institute for Operations Research and the Management
Sciences
Hanover,
MD,
and the
author.
are definite differences in culture that can be paired with differences in how people adopting
those cultures will feel comfortable making decisions. Where there are differences in how
people make decisions, there must be differences in the kind of support provided by DSS for
those people. Hence, there must be transnational factors considered in the design of DSS.
EFFECTS OF CULTURE ON DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM
Based on the anthropological definitions of cultures described in the previous section, one
would expect observable differences in the preferences for design of DSS across cultures.
There are five general aspects of the system on which one would expect differences, as
listed in Table 6.3. Table 6.4 summarizes the discussion of the previous section, thereby
illustrating the effects of the various cultural factors on DSS design.
Table 6.3. Cultural Differences and Their Effects on DSS Design
Choice of
model
Descriptive
vs.
optimization
Need for strategic planning
Use of standards
Variables used
Need for monitoring
Variety needs for models
Premodeling need: alternative generation
Postmodeling
need:
sensitivity analyses
Temporal aspects
Orientation of data
Static
vs.
dynamic
Desired access
Scope of access
Individual
vs.
joint use
Table 6.4. Cultural Differences and Their Effects on DSS Design
Cultural Indicators
DSS
Characteristics
Time Orientation Uncertainty Person-Nature Attitude Activity
Past Present Future avoid tolerant subjective harmony master being becoming doing
Human-Nature Belief
evil mix good
lin'l
Relational
coll individual
Choice of Models
Descriptive v.
Optimizing
Need for Strategic
Pinging
Use of Standards
Variables used
Need for
Monitoring
Variety needs for
models
Pre-modeling
Needs
Alternative
Generation
Post-Modeling
Needs
Sensitivity
Analyses
Temporal Aspects
Orientation of
Data
Static v. Dynamic
Desired Access
Scope of Access
Individual v. Joint
high
high high
historical current future
some high
high
less high
high high
high
high no
high no
"is"
high
low
descriptive optim
high
descriptive descriptive descriptive
high
high high
"done"
moderate high
efficiency
high
high
more soc group self
high
high
high
high
high high
current historical future current historical all historical historical future
static dynamic dynamic static dynamic dynamic
limit broader low
individual high individual
high
joint
low
individual
high
joint
low
individual
high
joint
a
more structured, less ad hoc.
b
Some monitoring: emphasize monitoring for reactive purposes.
EFFECTS OF CULTURE ON DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM
First, there are differences in preferences for descriptive models versus optimization
models associated with the activity orientation and uncertainty avoidance of the culture.
Related to this is the differential need for contingency and planning models depending
upon the person-nature orientation, the uncertainty avoidance, and the activity orienta-
tion. For example, cultures which believe they can master their destiny are more likely to
emphasize strategic and contingency planning than are other cultures. Furthermore, these
attributes affect the decision to adopt standards; the more the culture adopts a "doing"
value, the more likely it is to adopt standards for evaluation of actions. Finally, these
dimensions affect the flexibility of the decision makers to select from a menu of appro-
priate analyses to support their choice process. The need for flexibility is associated with
cultures that perceive mastery of their destinies, with low uncertainty avoidance tenden-
cies,
a positive human-nature orientation, and a highly individualistic orientation of the
culture.
From Table 6.4, it is clear that the literature regarding the impact of culture on decision
making suggests that culture will affect the kinds of models required, the premodeling and
postmodeling support, the temporal aspects of the model, and the level of access desired.
Hence, if one is building a transnational DSS, one must pay special attention to differences
in needs
and
preferences among decision makers in these areas. Such special attention
might mean providing more flexibility than one would otherwise provide. Or the special
attention might mean providing greater training in the use, more online support, or greater
emphasis of the capabilities in those areas.
Of course, being able to determine which of these attributes is important hinges on
the ability to identify where the culture of interest falls on each of the dimensions. Some
authors have already provided some of this information, such as the ratings represented
in Table 6.2 (see, e.g., Hofstede, 1994). These ratings help provide clues to how various
cultures fall on the various dimensions and hence can provide guidance on how to balance
the needs of multiple cultures.
As long as the DSS is isolated to a given culture, these differences in the preferences
in decision-making behavior are of little consequence. However, if the DSS is designed
to support decision makers who represent two or more of these cultures, then it must be
sufficiently flexible to accommodate the wide range of needs. Knowing these decision-
making preferences, the designer must balance those preferences in the DSS capabilities.
For
example,
suppose the DSS is designed to support both
a
culture that values identification
of the best alternative (optimization models) as well as one that values the identification of
a
wide range of information about the phenomenon, so as to make a good but not necessarily
the best decision (descriptive models). Clearly the best answer is to develop a DSS which
can accommodate both types of modeling. This may mean more than simply providing both
kinds of models to the decision makers. It may also mean providing automated intelligent
assistance, which helps the decision makers use models better and which helps them
understand the reasoning behind the use of the model better.
Consider the examples of such intelligent assistance shown in Figures 6.5 and 6.6. In
Figure 6.5, the system examines the solution elected by the decision maker and helps to
identify problems with it. In this example, the production policy is evaluated to determine
if it will meet the needs of their customers. The system determines that the user has not
elected to examine forecasts of availability of raw materials. In addition, the system scans
available databases to determine if any of the raw materials have had significant shortages
in the recent past. When one is found, the system brings this information to the attention of
the user, thus prompting the user to modify the prepared analysis.
306
INTERNATIONAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS
Figure 6.5. Intelligent assistance.
Figure 6.6. Intelligent assistance encouraging further models.
EFFECTS
OF
CULTURE
ON
DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM
307
Figure 6.7. Modeling assistance.
In Figure 6.6, the system examines the process used by the decision maker. By noting
the tasks completed
by the
decision maker,
the
system
can
determine that
the
user
is
electing
to
attempt
to
create
a
production plan manually. Since
the
system "knows" that
such problems can
be
solved using operations research techniques,
the
system interrupts
the user to suggest this alternative modeling structure. Note that the system does not force
the user
to
abandon
the
current task. Rather,
the
system notes that
it is an
alternative
and attempts
to
explain why. Further note that the system reassures the user that the final
decision
is in
the hands
of
the user since
it
can be altered to include the "nonquantifiable"
issues not handled well by optimization. In this way, the system reassures the user that there
is a place for his or her analysis.
If
the
user asked for more information, it might be useful to help him or her understand
where
the
suggested approaches were superior
and
why. First, consider,
for
example,
Figure 6.7.
In
this screen,
the
system
is
comparing
the
plans developed
by the
decision
maker's personal approach and those developed by the alternative modeling approach. This
provides the user with the evidence
he or
she needs
to
believe that the model might work
as well as
to
determine what flaws exist
in
his
or
her analyses.
In
addition, such objective
analyses help the user understand why years
of
experience might not be substitutable
for
an appropriate model.
Second, consider the situation where the cultural differences among users
of
the DSS
suggest
a
need
for
broader access
to
data and models. For example, where organizational
goals differ,
the
need
for
information will differ. Consider
two
cultures,
one in
which
organizational goals such
as
efficiency, productivity, and profit
are
optimized and
the
other
in
which organizational goals such as organizational stability, growth, industry leadership, and
organizational efficiency are optimized. This difference in goals suggests a difference in the
INTERNATIONAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS
focus of statistical data. The manager from the first culture will need information regarding
issues such as profit, margin on sales, return on total assets, and the time to produce a single
item. That is, this manager needs statistics which suggest how profitable the company is in
its current state and how profitable it would be if a change were implemented. The focus of
this manager is on the size of the profit differential resulting from the change. The manager
of
the
second culture would also be concerned with the difference in productivity but would
focus on the impact of the change on the stability of the company. This manager would
consider statistics such as industry ranking and market value, especially with regard to
how the change will affect each of those statistics. Hence, both sets of statistics should be
available to the decision makers. In addition, screens such as those previously noted that
help the user to understand why someone might look at the other statistics could be useful.
An example is shown in Figure 6.8.
The options for a DSS designer are somewhat more complicated when the preferences
are in conflict with one another. For example, consider the situation where one culture
adopts standards for performance whereas the other culture does not adopt standards and
is more likely to focus on the importance of being (rather than an outcome measure).
These two cultures conflict in terms of both where to focus (the activity or the outcome)
and whether or not to provide standards in the evaluation. One approach to addressing
the standards problem is to provide a module that will facilitate the understanding and
development of standards. Such a module could help users see a relationship between the
rankings on relevant criteria and alternatives generally accepted as good so as to facilitate
Figure 6.8. Transnational support.
EFFECTS OF CULTURE ON DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM
the development of standards in the long
run.
Similarly, the module could help users identify
noncompensatory relationships among standards. That is, by examining the standards, the
average standard, and actual outcomes, decision makers are more likely to become aware of
situations where acceptable levels on a given standard are as important (or more important)
that meeting an overall standard of performance.
This method of providing historical data of outcomes and data allows the decision
makers to generally perceive opportunities for improved decision making. If it is important
that changes in the process happen quickly; the system can be programmed to encourage
decision makers to consider these relationships by providing pop-up screens noting incon-
sistencies in decision-making procedures or the value of alternative information in selecting
among alternatives.
The culture will also affect the premodel functions and the postmodel functions in
the model management system. The time orientation of the culture, uncertainty avoidance
tendency, and human-nature orientation affect the desirability of methods for generating
alternatives to known problems or conditions. Those cultures that are future oriented, have
high uncertainty avoidance, and/or have a "good" human-nature orientation are likely to
want systems that facilitate alternative generation.
Similarly, the uncertainty avoidance tendencies and the person-nature orientation of
the culture are expected to affect the needs for postmodeling support, such as
"what-if"
analyses or postoptimality analyses. In particular, high uncertainty avoidance tendencies
and cultures which perceive they can master their destinies will value such ad hoc queries
to determine the sensitivity of their solutions to potential changes in their environments.
In this situation, prompting the user to consider more pre- and postmodeling function-
ality is probably best. For example, if the value of a given decision is dependent upon the
availability of a scarce resource, the system might automatically notify the user. In this
case,
the system could post a message such as that identified in Figure 6.5.
Cultural norms will also affect the temporal orientation of the data that decision
makers will expect to find in a DSS. The time orientation of the culture and the activity
orientation affect the preference for current or historical data in an analysis. Cultures that
emphasize the past and/or the being nature will emphasize historical data in the system.
In addition, the human-nature orientation, activity orientation, and time orientation will
affect the desirability of monitoring systems as part of a DSS and the kind of information
that should be maintained in such monitoring systems. Furthermore, the activity orientation
and the time orientation affect the preference for static measures of merit of an alternative
over dynamic measures of historical change. For example, societies that emphasize the
value of individuals and their development will require monitoring systems that trace the
growth of people, projects, or organizations over time to support their decision making.
This is in contrast to societies that emphasize the individual, which would need only current
performance information.
Another area in the design of
DSS
affected by culture is the scope of
the
DSS to which
members of the organization have access. In some cases, access to either information,
models, or results is expanded (limited) because of the need for more (less) people involved
in the decision-making process. For example, in cultures that emphasize harmony with
nature, lower levels of management need information because upper management's focus
is on maintaining harmony. Similarly, in cultures that believe in "good" human-nature
orientation, information is available to greater numbers of people so as to generate more
innovative solutions to problems. At other times, this access changes to limit the generation
of alternatives, the questioning of assumptions, or the direction of communication. The
scope of the system seems to be affected by the person-nature orientation, the level of
individuality, and the human-nature orientation of the culture.
INTERNATIONAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS
DISCUSSION
It is important to focus on the differences in culture which could affect decision makers'
needs because such features could affect the perceived usefulness of a system substantially.
As more companies become transnational
and
as more decision making in those transna-
tional corporations is decentralized, DSS design which allows flexibility in the approach
to decision making and which helps decision makers become more comfortable with the
styles associated with other cultures will become critical. If decision makers cannot use
the system to be responsive to their own needs and to communicate their analyses to their
colleagues, the system will not be used. In the long run, if decision makers do not use the
system, then even the best designed system is a failure.
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QUESTIONS
1.
Describe the factors that would influence your design of a DSS for another country. In
particular, describe the cultural factors that are unique to that country and/or strongly
influence the decision-making process in that country as well as the specifications of
design that would be affected. Explain why you believe this association exists. Be
specific.
2.
What guidelines would you provide to a designer of a transnational DSS to help him
or her be more sensitive to the needs of decision makers in all countries? In particular,
what aspects of the system are most likely to be affected by the transnational nature of
the system? How? Be specific.
3.
Suppose you are developing a DSS for a CEO in a U.S. corporation (you may select
a specific industry if you like) for strategic planning. One of the tasks of this CEO
is to acquire one or more transnational corporations. Discuss how you would design
database access in such a system. Include how you would integrate corporate databases,
how you would provide unique databases for this system, and how you would integrate
public databases. Be certain to include databases available via the Internet or other
public source.
4.
Suppose you propose an Internet-based,
strategic
DSS project at your company (or at
some fictitious company) for your (non-information system) department. Discuss the
issues that you want included in the feasibility analysis for the project. In particular,
discuss the various costs and benefits that would need to be considered and how they
would be measured.
5.
Suppose you work for a company that has divisions in two countries, e.g., the United
States and China. Each division needs information systems for both transaction pro-
cessing and DSS development. Analyze the needs and designing systems for the U.S.
division first and then perform similar activities for the division in China. You com-
munication will be through e-mail. What changes in methodology would you make to
ensure other projects are successful?
6. In Greek, there is no word for
privacy.
Discuss how the absence of this concept would
impact building a French-Greek DSS.
7.
Talk with some of the international students at your university. Discuss what words,
symbols, or concepts that might appear in a DSS might get "lost in translation."
8. Talk with some of the international students at your university. Discuss differences in
decision making and management across the cultures that might impact DSS design.
ON
THE WEB
313
9. How do differences in the laws and conventions on privacy impact the design and use
ofaDSS?
10.
How do differences in laws and conventions governing "the
press"
in different countries
impact the design of a DSS?
ON
THE WEB
On the
Web
for this chapter provides additional information about international standards,
transnational management, and communications issues as they apply to the design of DSSs.
Additional discussion questions and new applications will also be added as they become
available.
Links provide access to information about transnational business.
The Web page
provides links to sites to help the user learn about conducting business in other
countries as well as across national boundaries. These links provide directories of
businesses and trade associations, news access and information about resources, and
restrictions to business.
Links provide access to information about transnational
communication.
Communi-
cation implies that information can be transferred and understood. These Web links
help in translation of languages (including idioms) as well as provide information
about legal and technical issues of concern.
Links provide users with multicultural information.
One problem in designing a
transnational DSS is the understanding of cultures in other parts of the world. The
Web page can provide tours and insights into different cultures to help users gain
that information.
You can access material for this chapter from the general Web page for the book or directly
athttp://www.umsl.edu/^sauterv/DSS4BI/intl.html.
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